by Matt Bassett
If you noticed something a little strange on your way to school the morning of Jan. 15 you are not the only one. The night before Jan. 15 the migration of Eared Grebes went a little haywire. According to Lynn Zubeck, local fish and game warden, Grebes are birds that migrate during the night, and can only land and take off in the water. They can only land and take off in the water because their legs are set so far back on their bodies.
The particular night the birds were flying was so cold and snowy that they must have been looking for a place to rest for a while. When they reached Delta the bright lights were reflecting off of the fresh snow and made it appear like water to the birds. What the birds didn't know was that they weren't really landing on water, but into a death trap.
The birds landed all over Millard County. The weaker birds died soon after falling into the snow, but the stronger ones flapped back and forth across the snow trying to take off.
Wildlife officials think that these Grebes were part of hundreds of thousand more birds who land on the Great Salt Lake this time of year to eat brine shrimp. Because of the cold weather the shrimp were at a depth in the lake that the Grebes couldn't reach. Then the birds started a migration to the Salton Sea in southern California in search for food.
After waking up and noticing these stranded little orange eyed birds some people decided to rescue them. Concerned citizens and school kids went around the town gathering these birds and taking them to Lynns' house so he could save them. Lynn took them to Clear Lake where they could take off and finish their migration. Lynn said that around 3000 birds were saved.
Cody Black said "Grebes have got to be the dumbest birds around, not counting my sister Erica." Grebes might not be the brightest birds around but those crazy birds made a lot of people's day more interesting and fun.
URL http://www.dtc.millard.k12.ut.us/~dhs/MoDel/
Created by MoDel Staff